News Broadcasting
Fairfield in Bengaluru, India Hits the Road With New Food Truck
MUMBAI: India is no stranger to street food, from sizzling pakoras to steaming cups of chai, so when it came to creating a fun way to announce and promote its opening, the Fairfield by Marriott Bengaluru Rajajinagar decided to keep things simple, familiar and delicious.
In mid-August, this new Bengaluru, India hotel hit the streets of Bangalore with its Fairfield Food Truck (FFT), which will continue to tour the area each day for the next several weeks.
The mobile food truck is a way to spread the word about the hotel’s arrival and also showcase the food, beverage, and catering services at its Bangalore all-day dining restaurant Kava Grill & Lounge. Visitors to the FFT are offered a taste of Kava fare through the panini, one of Kava’s signature offerings, in a setting that emulates that of the actual Bangalore, India hotel restaurant, complete with tables and chairs. Visitors also walk away with vouchers to Kava, giving them the opportunity to visit the restaurant in its permanent location at the property. The actual outlet menu also features rolls, burgers, kebabs, curries and more.
“We are very excited about the Fairfield Food Truck,” Pranay Verdia, General Manager of this Bengaluru, India hotel, says, “which is possibly the first of its kind. Through the FFT we have explored a unique platform of reaching out to customers. We have been receiving a great response and instant feedback through our interactions. We are looking forward to long and cherished client relationships through the associations that we have formed through this initiative.”
In addition to touring the city, the FFT will make dedicated stops at corporate accounts including National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Chola MS, Nabard, Cerner, Philips, Waters, Toyota, Kennametal, Mann Hummel, Avery Dennison and Sab Miller, serving snacks to associates. The truck made a stop at the Army Polo Festival, where it hosted high tea for 500 people, and will also visit a local orphanage as part of Marriott’s Spirit to Serve initiative. To round out its visits, the FFT will stop at social events for Sunburn and the Bangalore Ladies Club.
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI:Â Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
